So who's buying all the Harleys and Ducatis?

[Pwalo]

Is it just me or do there seem to be an awful lot of Harleys and Ducatis for sale on Trade Me, and in the Motorcycle Trader Mag? There are lots of Suzukis and Hondas of course, but I guess you'd expect that.

I appreciate that there are some double ups between the two sources, but there seems to be a heck of a lot of them being imported. Is this a reflection of what people are buying, or is there a bit of a glut on used ones in the overseas market?

[Disco Dan]

I always thought they were the type of bikes that 'looks expensive' and gives the perception of lots of money. I know thats not entirely true, but that was first thing that came to mind.

[Dooly]

Heaps of the Ducatis seem to be coming in from Japan.
Took me months to find my one, as I wanted a NZ new one, and then a guy had to be persuaded to sell it.
I could of ordered a Jap one and it would of been here in no time.

[Big Dave]

Non KBers maninly. The somewhat Jappacentric nature of KB means not very many non Jap riders come here.

[Pwalo]

Non KBers maninly. The somewhat Jappacentric nature of KB means not very many non Jap riders come here.

That's a point. I have seen a few Ducatis, and Aprilias down here, but not so many HDs (except in the weekends).

I was just intrigued as to see so many being advertised.

I can see the reason for the increase in used 250s coming into the country, but I would't have thought that the market for the more 'exclusive' motorcycle would have been quite so large.

[Forest]

Most of the Ducatis I've seen are imports.

It is a re-run of what happened to the car market when Jap imports started coming in. The importers start by targeting the aspirational makes & models.

[Magua]

Heaps of the Ducatis seem to be coming in from Japan.
Took me months to find my one, as I wanted a NZ new one, and then a guy had to be persuaded to sell it.
I could of ordered a Jap one and it would of been here in no time.

What's wrong with the Japanese imported ones?

[Dooly]

What's wrong with the Japanese imported ones?

I have heard stories from dealers about electrical, ECU, and other niggly costly problems on so called low km models, mainly the high spec Ducs.
But I'm sure there are also a lot that have no probs.
One dealer told me that they wont trade any Jap import Ducs.
I'm not saying you will have the probs but I was'nt prepared in case I did, due to the cost and time to get bits.

But either way, it was my preference to hold out for a NZ model and therefore have a full service and owner history.
And that was the priority for me, knowing the history and owner.
And I love my Duc!

[axxaa]

What's wrong with the Japanese imported ones?

The only problem with the jap imports is the lack of any service history, important when it comes to Ducati's.

[johan]

The only problem with the jap imports is the lack of any service history, important when it comes to Ducati's.

Unfortunately, service history or not, you can never know if your desmoquattro will be plagued with flaking rockers or not. It's a topic most owners or dealers seems to avoid talking about, but it's a manufacture fault that is quite costly fix for the owner. I've been there.

That said, they are very solid engines. Replace the belts and check the valve clearance at specified intervals, you should have a hard time to break the engine. As you should do with any type of engine.

The older the model, the more likely to have electrical gremlins. From what I understand, ~2000+ models were fitted with higher spec electrical components.

[Tank]

Is it just me or do there seem to be an awful lot of Harleys and Ducatis for sale on Trade Me, and in the Motorcycle Trader Mag? There are lots of Suzukis and Hondas of course, but I guess you'd expect that.

I appreciate that there are some double ups between the two sources, but there seems to be a heck of a lot of them being imported. Is this a reflection of what people are buying, or is there a bit of a glut on used ones in the overseas market?

It could be that with the mortgage rates etc climbing thru the roof - that more and more people are getting squeezed and the first thing that needs to go are "the toys" - esp. if you are a weekend only type rider.

[Finn]

The reason why so many are imported is that there is obviously a demand for them. Both new Duc's & Harley's are in short supply in NZ much to the detriment of the dealers so people will go to the importers... like me. I REFUSE to go on a waiting list for a bloody motorcycle!

Mine arrives in 2 - 3 weeks. I also just sold 2 more new, imported Harley's to mates too. Dealers must get really pissed off at this.

[WRT]

Non KBers maninly. The somewhat Jappacentric nature of KB means not very many non Jap riders come here.

I'm half-n-half, myself. Kinda Jappatalian. Honda-rilia, even. Does that count as non Jap?

[Bonez]

The reason why so many are imported is that there is obviously a demand for them. Both new Duc's & Harley's are in short supply in NZ much to the detriment of the dealers so people will go to the importers... like me. I REFUSE to go on a waiting list for a bloody motorcycle!

Mine arrives in 2 - 3 weeks. I also just sold 2 more new, imported Harley's to mates too. Dealers must get really pissed off at this.

Certainly proves the "waiting list" is a sham doesn't it?

[toycollector10]

If it's a modern motorcycle that floats your boat, in twelve months or (gasp) twenty-four months time it's just going to be last years, or worse, a really old model.

Leaving the owner discontented, feeling poorly, and needing to off-load that outdated piece of shizznit so he can buy the "latest and greatest next best thing". As advertised in the latest Motorcycle Magazine.

So he can then front up and be seen to be "with it". For maybe 12 or 24 months or so on his new bike, then the cycle repeats itself. Mind you, his new bike has 2.75 extra HP or whatever they call them today and can do 264.91 KPH instead of 261.25 kph so the extra $12,421 he spent on it to supercede his 2007 model was well worth the cash. Not.

It's called planned obsolescence and is a concept well known to manufacturers since the days of the model T Ford.

Do you need to, and can you afford to buy into it? Is it possible to be happy to ride what you currently own?